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Pardew rues Krul´s season-ending injury

Newcastle keeper Tim Krul will miss the rest of the season after dislocating his shoulder in Sunday's 3-0 drubbing by Sunderland.

Krul landed awkwardly after punching the ball clear during the match, and was swiftly replaced by Rob Elliot on 57 minutes before being taken to hospital for assessment.

The Dutchman's injury comes as an additional bitter pill to swallow for Newcastle manager Alan Pardew, who believes his side failed to recover from Thursday's 1-1 Europa League draw with Benfica that saw the Magpies crash out 4-2 on aggregate.

"They looked like a team that had worked all week on us and we looked like a team that had a really tough game on Thursday night.

"We looked a little bit tired in our minds and our fitness and our application to the game. We were always struggling in that game. Unfortunately it turned out to be a great day for Sunderland and an awful day for us.

"To our fans, that's everything and we just have to make sure that in the last five games we put that right and get some work in on the training ground.

"Three or four of our players never trained after Thursday night, just a short warm-up and a massage.

"We've got a good side and we haven't shown that today but this week we have but unfortunately that kind of game at the back end of the week is dangerous that we could get beat today. We didn't take the game lightly.

"We certainly didn't think we were going to win, we did everything we could with what we had but it just wasn't enough."

The 51-year-old admits the defeat was one of the lowest points of his tenure at St James' Park and has demanded a response from his players between now and the end of the season.

He added: "It's up there for sure because the team just didn't perform today as we would have wanted and most of the things that we attempted to do in the game didn't come off.

"The first half worried me and we brought Shola (Ameobi) on to try and just change it and freshen it up a bit more.

"Losing Tim lost me a pair of legs on the field and it only really left me with only one sub which was difficult.

"It's about us making sure that we put performances in until the end of the season that can help to ease the memory of this defeat.

"It won't go away, we're going to have to wear it, probably next year as well. We're under no illusions of the responsibility we have to our fans and we let them down today 100 per cent."